My Little Mana
by Quill Runner
Summary: Learn the story of Merryl, a young mare living in a tree, and the destiny that was thrust upon her as she is charged with the responsibility of reconstructing the world. This, readers is how Equestria WAS made.


**My Little Mana**

By: Quill Runner

Chapter: Introduction

"Nine centuries ago, the Mana Tree burned to ashes. The power of Mana lived on inside Mana stones, enchanted instruments, and artifacts. Sages fought with each other for control of these last remnants of Mana. Then, after hundreds of years of war, as the power of Mana began to wane, those who sought it grew scarce, and the world returned to peace. After that, ponykind grew afraid to desire. Their hearts filled with empty emotions, and grew estranged from my hands. They turned their eyes away from my infinite power, and were troubled by their petty disputes. Remember me! Need me! I can provide you with everything! I am love...

...Find me, and walk beside me"

Merryl awoke with a gasp, quickly jerking her head up as she panted heavily. Cold sweat covered the brow of the red mare, her golden locks soon falling into her eyes somewhat. Her pet cactus, Cactus (She was never good with names), looked at her. She looked back at the little living plant, with its adorable, baby-like face, giving a bit of a smile. "Oh, good morning Cactus," She said, before yawning rather loudly. Cactus just sat in his pot, staring at the mare as she crawled out of her bed, eyes half-closed tiredly. The two of them lived in a house, built into the side of a tree, far away from any towns that could ever be built nearby. At least a few hours walk, even. As Merryl stretched her legs, yawning loudly, Cactus crawled out of his pot and walked over to her. Merryl smiled at him, and said "Cactus, you know you shouldn't be out of your pot until I get you your water." Cactus nodded, and asked "Will you be telling me stories today?" "Oh, my! I certainly hope so! I should really get to a store to get some books!" Merryl responded, before giggling some. "You get into your pot. I'll get you some water, and get into town soon." She told her pet cactus, smiling at the little creature.

Cactus nodded, abiding by Merryl's instructions, walking back over to his pot on his roots, and climbing in, nestling in before saying "See you soon, master!" Merryl giggled, and said "You will, of course." Before heading down the stairs. The house was a cozy little one. The second floor housed the bedroom for both Cactus and Merryl, while the first floor housed the dining room and the study. The dining room was small, only separated from the 'hallway' (so to speak) by the fact that it had stone tiles instead of wooden flooring. Across the room was a door, which led to the study. It held a modest collection of books, most of which were Cactus' stories. He didn't like repetition, so it was tough to make sure he had enough books to keep himself occupied. Merryl walked into the kitchen-area, taking in the warmth of the cozy, stone-brick fireplace for a moment before walking past it, to a closet that was only door'd off by a set of beads. She pulled out a large trunk, covered in dust, and blew some off from the top of it. After a bit of coughing from a cloud of dust getting in her face, she looked at the trunk, saying "Well... Here it is. My travelling gear," with a smile. She opened the trunk, revealing its contents, which clearly hadn't been used in a long time. She pulled out the Menos-Bronze hauberk she had, as well as the Menos-Bronze hammer she kept. The armor was her mother's, the hammer her father's. She kept them mostly because she needed something to protect her while she was on the road, plenty of bandits and highwaymen on the way to Domina.

After strapping the hauberk on, Merryl grabbed the pale-red cape she liked to wear on her travels. She wore this cape mostly for its color, but a more practical reason was because it hid her Scholar Mark. There were 3 types of "Marks" in Fa'Diel, which normally determined what kind of pony you were. There were Scholar Marks, granted by doing reading, writing, and teaching. There were Artistic Marks, which were granted by being a good musician, painter, dancer, or singer, and were sometimes the most envied of the three marks. The last were Murder Marks, which were granted to any one pony who was VERY exceptional in combat. TOO exceptional. They normally grew up to be mercenaries, soldiers, or assassin's. Most ponies covered up their marks, only revealing it when they're in private, or when they're comfortable giving away the fact that they were either a self-trained killer or a defenseless foal. Merryl's mark showed that she was a constant reader, be it studying or recreational reading. She read to Cactus a lot as well, enjoying his reaction whenever the hero made it through something super scary, or when the villain finally gets what he deserves! When Merryl was a little filly, she sometimes dreamed of becoming an adventurer. Anyone could learn how to fight, but not just everyone was an adventurer. It was a life of excitement, a life of passion. A life of freedom! Alas, Merryl discovered her own flavor of freedom, living in this comfortable house, built inside of a tree. It was a good life, just her and Cactus. Once in a while, the mail-pelican came along, but that was rare.

Merryl made sure she was ready to go, before remembering that she had to get Cactus' water! Merryl rushed outside, and quickly went to the decaying ranch that was beside her house.

All around the house, as one might expect, there was a light dirt path that circled the tree. When approaching the house, if one went left, instead of right like Merryl usually did for Cactus' water, they would come across the orchard. While it was at one point an orchard for her father to grow their food, now it's overgrown with weeds, the soil no longer fertile and usable. Merryl stopped going there when she found out that the weeds started to gain a sort of life of their own. She figures they have a silent agreement, they leave her, she leaves them. Past the cutoff to the orchard, if one followed the path, they would come across the workshop, where Merryl's father used to work his craft. Merryl's father was a stallion of many trades, his best being farming, blacksmithing, and trading. When he was in the workshop, he was usually working on ways to protect Merryl's mother, who worked as a blade-for-hire. However, he never really had the money for anything much better then Menos Bronze, so when his wife would come home wearing something of a higher degree, sometimes even Ishe Platinum, he would feel a certain degree of disappointment. She would always find a way to make up for it, though. The first time, was with the hammer that Merryl carries, which her mother had actually used on her first mission before her father decided that a hammer was too heavy for her, and started using it for crafting.

Opposite from the workshop was the ranch, which has been around since before this home was even built. The wood was rotten, but somehow the hay that was inside seemed to remain fresh, and the grass trimmed. The river on the other side of the fence was where Merryl got the water for Cactus, but she was never good at climbing over it. After a bit of a struggle, she flopped over the fence, hitting the ground as she did, causing a loud thudding to be heard. She got up onto her hooves, grumbling as she did, before going to the river bank. The sound of the running water gently rolling over the stones below had always seemed to soothe her sometimes stressed-out soul. Merryl grabbed one of the large wooden bowls she kept there for Cactus' water, and filled it with the clean, crisp, cool water of the river, using her teeth. She carefully carried the bowl over to the fence again, trying her best not to spill any of the water. She slipped the bowl under the bottom of the fence, so she could climb over it. When she was on this side, there was a boulder for her to hop over by climbing onto, which was noticeably easier then climbing the fence itself. When she got on top of the boulder, she could just hop over the top of the fence! She did this, and picked up the bowl with her teeth again, carefully bringing it to her front door, gently bucking it to open it with one hoof. She carried the water up the stairs, bringing it to Cactus' pot and placing it down, before saying "Okay Cactus. You know the drill. That water can last you a week-" Cactus interrupted the mare, saying "If I conserve. I know master. Thank you!" Merryl nuzzled her pet, before saying "I'll be back as soon as I can!"

When Merryl made it back down the stairs, she spotted a most curious sight on the path outside of her home. The red mare opened the door, staring at the plant-like being standing around at the edge of her property. She approached it, saying "Um... Excuse me?" "Oh! Hello!" The plant creature said, looking at Merryl. "I'm a Sproutling!" He said to her. "I know that. Is there something I can help you with?" Merryl asked him.

Sproutlings were always a curious creature. With the face of mixture of a kitten and a child, and the leaves of a large plant, like a tropical tree, they always seem to roam about with no particular pattern. Being everywhere, everyone in the world seems to have just gotten used to them being around, and their ranting about "returning to the tree" and other such nonsense.

The Sproutling nodded, saying "Did you know you can shape the world, using your imagination?" "What? That's preposterous!" Merryl said, scowling. "No it's not! Here, I'll show you!" The Sproutling said, reaching under its leaves and handing Merryl a bunch of randomly colored building blocks. "This is the town of Domina." He said, smiling. Merryl rolled her eyes, and took the blocks, saying "Alright, Sproutling..." Before heading down the path a little. "Ooh, wait!" The plant-being shouted, stopping Merryl. The mare spat out the blocks, glaring at the Sproutling as he handed her a strange looking board. "What's this?" She asked, looking at it. "It's The Board!" He said. "You can't go anywhere without it. It's a wasteland."

Merryl blinked. "No it isn't... I was in Domina last week!" She said, before turning to leave, suddenly seeing the truth. "By the goddess..." She muttered. Everything outside her house was a desolate wasteland. All dead land... there were some mountains, way in the distance, but they seemed as hopeless as the flat land they decorated, sandy and life free. "That's where Geo's supposed to be...!" She shouted, pointing her hoof at the mountains. "A-And that's supposed to be the Cemetery... And that's supposed to be where Lumina is... A-And... H-How did this happen!" She said, clearly surprised by this! "You've been asleep a lot longer than you think." The Sproutling told her. Merryl sighed. "Alright then... I'll... Get to work on that then." She said, before gesturing for the Sproutling to put The Board down. The red mare took a deep breath, before looking at the building blocks. "The town of Domina..." She muttered. She then looked at the board again. Domina was east of her home, just down the path. So, she kept true to her home, putting the building blocks in the same place. As she did this, a strange light enveloped the board, and a bit of a light show played out for Merryl as she watched the town unfold in front of her on The Board! Her home looked like it was from some kind of popup book, and she thought Domina was going to be flat on this sort of map. Until suddenly, it popped up into its three sections! Central Domina, Western Domina, and Domina Market all popped up on The Board. When Merryl looked behind her, there was the town!

"Oh, my gosh...!" Merryl said, taking a few steps forward. She felt an odd energy from the newly-returned town. "There it is... Domina!" She said. She turned around to thank the Sproutling, but it had already taken The Board, bringing it inside her house! Merryl sighed, and said "Well... Let's get into Domina then," before starting to trot along towards the town. Sure, it was in sight, but it was one hay of a walk! She'd left early in the morning, and it was the afternoon when she arrived. Already she'd learned, though, that the trip between her home and Domina was disguised, and was faked to look like it was its normal environment, but getting too close will reveal the wasteland it really was.

Upon arriving in Domina, she looked up ahead, seeing a rather large stallion and a small one - with an onion on his head? - seeming to be arguing. The onion-headed stallion said "Hey! At least tell me your name." The other stallion, with a sand-colored coat, black mane, and pale-green cape - as well as a necklace with a deep-blue Lapis Lazuli - looked at the onion-stallion, with a cold stare, before merely saying "Elazul." and walking off, into the nearby tavern, just ahead of the entrance to town. The onion-clad stallion said "Sheesh... He makes me sick." Before heading into the building to Merryl's left - a store and home all in one for a family of three, plus Teapo. Teapo was a sort of giant teapot, a living one. It was tough to explain what PRECISELY she was, and some even mistake her for a male because of her voice. But Merryl would visit the store later. She headed off, towards the marketplace, as she was in need of some supplies for home - and books! But as she walked into the bazaar, a fat rabbit approached her, saying "You there! You look like you know your stuff. Tell me, don't you think it's too dangerous to go out of town?" "Um... Well, I'd agree there ARE dangerous things, but it shouldn't discourage you from leaving your home." Merryl plainly said. "Oooh my, aren't YOU brave! Just what I'm looking for! Say, how about you and I head off to the highway, and clear it out of bandits?" The merchant asked Merryl. Merryl blinked a little, and said "Um... I... Guess... Are we going to have-" "Perfect! I'll pay you VERY well, I'll make you RICH!" The fat rabbit interrupted her with. "I need to visit Teapo, though. Come with me!"


End file.
